Inside Edge: Waters, Longanecker earn U16 top honors in Libby

World Cup Update — Speed! Breezy Johnson notched her fourth consecutive podium finish with a downhill bronze medal in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, this week. In her first full World Cup season, Bella Wright posted her best finish in 20th. Johnson also finished fifth in the second downhill, and Wright captured 25th. Wright wrapped up a strong week as the top U.S. finisher in super-G, taking 28th.

Meanwhile, the men competed at Kitzbuehel on the fabled Hahnenkamm track. Travis Ganong was the top U.S. finisher in the first downhill, placing 11th. He was followed by Jared Goldberg in 19th and Bryce Bennett in 24th. Unfortunately, Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who had been fastest in training and is the best U.S. speed racer this year, fell and broke his neck. His status for the World Championships on Feb. 9 is doubtful.

Ganong finished 12th in the second downhill of the weekend, followed by Goldberg in 24th. Ganong was 27th in super-G and Goldberg was 30th.

Independence Junior Race Series — The series resumed last Friday with brisk temperatures. Lift lines were shorter though and all the kids got several runs through the course. This being the first week of timing there was no basis for improvement, but we did find the fastest racers of the week.

The fastest boys were: Anders Trygstad (23.34) followed by Bodie Pirlot (25.06) and Thomas McDaniel (25.67). The fastest girls were: Halle Wyman (22.24) followed by Marley Bond-Brooks (22.91) and Faith Stephany (24.50). Racing resumes at 5:30 p.m. this Friday.

Wolf Chase Classic and Freestyle XC ski races — The Kootenai Nordic trails in Libby, Montana, hosted cross country competition this past weekend. These races, part of the Montana Nordic Cup ski race series, had a competitive field of over 60 racers from Sandpoint, Spokane, Libby, Missoula, Whitefish and Seeley Lake.

Sandpoint was represented by eight racers on Saturday and 11 on Sunday. Distances for the classic race Saturday were 5K and 7.5K, distances for the Sunday skate race ranged from 2K to 9K.

Saturday results: Callahan Waters, Jett Longanecker and Fletcher Barrett walked away with first, second and third respectively in U16 boys, finishing the 7.5K classic race in 22:58, 23:15 and 25:02. Grace Rookey was fifth in U16 girls with a time of 31:13. Skiing his first 5K ski race, Lane Gavin (age 13) was seventh in U14 boys (23:10). In the U12 group on a 5K course, Isabella Waters finished first with a time of 19:33, Pax Longanecker took third in 22:48, and Cairn Rookey placed seventh in his first ski race with a 25:22.

Sunday results: Once again, the Sandpoint U16 boys swept first, second and third. Jett Longanecker earned top honors on the 9K skate course with a 24:38. Callahan Waters took runner-up with a 25:28 and Fletcher Barrett secured third with a 27:06. Grace Rookey finished second in U16 girls with a 33:15. Sandpoint had six racers ski the 5K course. In U14 girls, Fiona MacDonald placed first in 20:00. Jonas Benson and Lane Gavin finished third and fifth in U14 boys, skiing a 20:48 and 27:21 respectively.

In U12, Isabella Waters captured first with a 20:48, Pax Longanecker skied a 23:04 to come in third and Cairn Rookey finished sixth (28:10). Jude Benson, age 9, finished first in the 2K distance with a 7:14.

Potpourri — Schweitzer will be hosting its first races of the year this week. Check back here next week for results. Any comments, recommendations or contributions to this column may be sent to Shep Snow by email at shep@thesnowschool.com. Negative feedback should be sent to someone else.